Re: 300 pound stock
>Steve.
>
>Wow - you really seem to know your stuff!!
>I am relatively new to this game and am looking for some good seed from
>reputable growers. What credentials do you have? With the knowledge that
>you
>exhibit here you must certainly have grown a few monsters in your day. What
>is your personal best and do you have seeds available from it? I got some
>seeds from a friend who got them from some friend of his, but apperently
>this guy had some virus problems in his patch over the years which has
>limited his wieghts over the years.
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Brian
>Ogdensburg, New York
>
Well, thanks Bill, er Brian....I am glad to know that some appreciate my
ideas and advice.
I do think that I have a lot of knowledge about gardening, some plant
biology and the like. I by no means consider myself an "expert", but thanks
for the compliment. Growing a "monster" is dependant on luck, just about as
much as it is on knowledge. A lot of top experts on this list have never
grown an especially large A.G. at all. But as you get to know the good
people here and learn more about this stuff, you will learn that a lot of
the best advice comes from those who aren't necessarily "heavy hitters".
The best seeds I have are from my 780 Mombert x 780 Eaton cross, which
should be very good, and have excellent virus resistance. It was a very
healthy plant. The fruit did not get much bigger than 300 pounds because it
was planted very late, and was kept alive until December in conditions which
were just above 40 degrees. It probably could have gotten 3 times as heavy
if planted earlier. Very healthy plant though, and very good cross of two
very good lines. Why don't you post your address to the list, as I am sure
that a lot of the good people on this list will be happy to send you a lot
of good seeds!
As for planting seeds from virus infected plants, going by tons of others
who have done this, scientific evidence, and my personal consultations with
microbiologists and plant experts, it would be extremely unlikely that virus
would be transmitted via seed in c. maxima. There has never been one case
reported of this, and although some here will disagree, they themselves
cannot come up with one case of it ever happening with c. maxima. I,
however, have found a ton of cases where seeds from infected plants were
planted, in the same ground that grew infected plants the year before, with
NO recurrance of the virus whatsoever. So going by this evidence, you
probably shouldn't worry about it. It is your call though. I personally
would not release any seeds from infected plants, ONLY because of some
people's predjudices on it. Plus I would rather offer seeds from plants that
have a resistance to virus in their genes.
Anyway, thanks for your email, and your compliments, Bill, er Barb, er, I
mean "Brian".
-Steve
"I like to play along!"
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